A MAN who started a street fight at a busy Gold Coast intersection has been charged.
Police say the 24-year-old man assaulted a 50 year old man at the intersection of Bundall Road and Thomas Drive, near the Chevron Island Bridge, Southport on March 30.
A video of the fight was circulated widely online.
The younger man has been charged with one count of affray.
He is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on April 15.
THE US military is set to deploy an unmanned spy plane in Japan to boost surveillance capabilities as North Korea apparently readied for missile launches, a newspaper report says.
The Global Hawk will be stationed at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan, in the first ever deployment of the aircraft in the country, the Sankei Shimbun reported, quoting government sources.
The US military informed Japan last month about plans to deploy the plane between June and September but may bring the date forward, it said, following reports about North Korea's preparations for missile launches.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing a top South Korean government official, said North Korea had loaded two mid-range Musudan missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast.
The Musudan have never been tested but are believed to have a range of around 3000km, which could theoretically be pushed to 4000km if they were to be given a light payload.
That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.
Tensions have soared on the Korean peninsula since December, when the North test-launched a long-range rocket. In February, it conducted its third nuclear test and drew fresh UN sanctions.
THE sister of a NSW woman who was doused in spirits and set alight in her wheelchair says it's during quiet times that thoughts of the murder come to her mind and won't go away.
As her sister's killer sat slumped in prison greens in the dock on Friday, Dee Dickinson told the NSW Supreme Court how the death of her sister Christine Joy Anthony had affected her and her family.
"We all know life goes on. We have family, jobs and commitments. So the world can't stop.
"But in those quiet times it's there and will never go away.
"Those thoughts cannot be erased."
David Allan Harding, 59, pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Anthony, also known as Ms Darcy, by setting her alight as she sat in her wheelchair at her Narromine home, in the NSW central west, on February 14, 2011.
A statement of facts tendered during Harding's sentence hearing said the pair, who had known each other since childhood, had been in a sexual relationship for just over a year.
On the day of the attack Harding went to her Department of Housing flat where they drank cask wine.
"It is unclear what happened over the course of the afternoon or evening," the facts state.
But at about 9.30pm, Ms Anthony, who was confined to a wheelchair due to spastic quadriplegia, was sitting in her nylon nightgown in her lounge room when Harding picked up a bottle of methylated spirits - and poured it over her head and torso.
He then used a cigarette lighter to set her on fire.
It is unknown how long he stayed with her while she was alight, but evidence found in Ms Anthony's home indicate that she rolled in her wheelchair around the house, the facts state.
She died the following day, having suffered burns to about 40 per cent of her body.
Her sister said her family couldn't understand the "vicious and disgusting act".
"Right now our pain is in the hands of the legal justice system. Christine is not a case number ... she's a sister, an aunt, a daughter and a friend," Ms Dickinson said in her victim impact statement which she read to court.
"She put trust in people which in the end was a deadly mistake."
Barrister Richard Wilson sought an adjournment to get more information on how Harding's brain injury from a motorbike accident in the 1980s may have affected him during the crime.
Justice Peter Garling listed the matter for directions later this month.
Sydney rail passengers are being warned of delays with part of the Northern Line closed for repairs. Source: AAP
MAJOR disruptions on Sydney's rail networks could become a recurring feature if the NSW government does not reinstate hundreds of maintenance jobs, the state's opposition warns.
A section of the Northern Line was closed on Friday morning so that overhead wiring could be repaired at Normanhurst.
The closure caused delays through the morning rush, with replacement bus services between Hornsby and Epping still operating on Friday afternoon.
NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson said job cuts were partly to blame.
"This is a government that said they would fix the trains and we have seen nine major incidents in the last two months," he told reporters in Sydney.
"What's most telling is that this is the third or fourth time this particular rail line has suffered overhead wiring problems.
"Something's going on, and it's because maintenance isn't being done because they don't have the staff ... The premier cannot say 'I don't understand why this is happening' when he's sacking 450 maintenance workers across the rail network."
Mr Robertson said the government needed to apologise to the "hundreds of thousands of commuters" who were delayed.
He also renewed his call for a fare-free day, which the government has previously ruled out.
Earlier on Friday, RailCorp's operations director, Tony Eid, said trains would be operating northbound on the Northern line in time for Friday's afternoon peak hour, but commuters should expect delays.
"We are telling people that because of the delays through the day, and the extra trains in the area, there will be congestion," Mr Eid told AAP.
He said the Northern line would remain closed to citybound trains until around 8am on Saturday.
DEBATE over the merits of daylight saving will continue, possibly for the next 50 years, South Australian Attorney-General John Rau says.
Summer time ends in SA on Sunday, after the period was extended in 2009 to push into April each year.
That keeps SA in line with the eastern states but causes some concern for people living on the state's west coast who find themselves leaving for work or school in the dark.
Mr Rau said he appreciated the inconvenience to some but believed the benefits outweighed the problems.
"We've found as much of a happy compromise as we can presently," he said.
"But I'm sure this is a debate we'll be hearing a lot about for the next 10, 15, 20 or maybe 50 years.
"It's a great yarn particularly at this time of the year when the clocks are changing."
Mr Rau said it was unlikely South Australia would ever consider introducing two time zones across the state, which could result in those people in the state's west feeling disconnected from Adelaide.
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard agrees China is increasing its influence in the Pacific, where Australia has numerous aid and development projects.
After a speech to the Foreign Correspondents' Association in Sydney on Thursday, Ms Gillard was asked if Australia's influence was waning as China stepped up its presence in places like Fiji.
The prime minister recognised China's growing power.
"As China's weight and power continues to rise then of course it will have a stronger and more diverse relationships around the world, including in the Pacific," she said.
Ms Gillard said Australia wanted to see more countries working in aid and development in the Pacific, but believed there needed to be more accountability.
"We believe that aid and development money needs to be the subject of proper accountabilities and transparencies so people can see the work that is being done," she said.
On Fiji, Ms Gillard said Australia continued to look forward to "free and fair" elections being held in the island republic which has been run by Commodore Frank Bainimarama since a 2006 military coup.
"We stand ready to assist with preparations for those elections, for the conduct of those elections," she said.
"We believe that Commodore Bainimarama needs to be held to his promises and accountability and they need to be held on time and property done."
A MEDIATOR has been called in to try to resolve an increasingly bitter pay dispute between Tasmanian bus drivers and the state government.
Drivers marched on Parliament House in Hobart on Wednesday, angry they had been locked out of work with all services cancelled by state-owned transport company, Metro.
Around 100 gathered outside Metro's headquarters and 60 took part in the March after two planned stop-work meetings led to the shutdown.
The state's 400 drivers are seeking an annual pay rise of three per cent over three years, while Metro has offered 2.1 per cent and a faster progression to the top rate.
Services have been disrupted since action began more than a month ago and Metro chief executive Heather Haselgrove said an independent facilitator would meet both parties next week in an attempt to end the deadlock.
"Metro has always said that our door is open to continue negotiations so we are pleased with this outcome," Ms Haselgrove said in a statement.
Commuters including school students returning after their Easter break were forced to make other transport arrangements on Wednesday.
More disruptions will occur on Thursday morning.
Tasmania's Minister for Sustainable Transport Nick McKim has been criticised by the Rail Tram and Bus Union and the state's Liberal opposition for failing to intervene in the dispute.
The opposition says the dispute has exposed a split in the power-sharing arrangement between Mr McKim's Greens and Labor cabinet members who opposed stand downs.
"If this government can't even agree on how to run the buses, how can we trust them to agree on how to run the State?" opposition spokesman Matthew Groom said.
Mr McKim said the dispute needed to be resolved by the parties.
"This is a matter ultimately between Metro and its workforce and I've continually urged both parties to sit down at the negotiating table and work their way through this issue, and I still believe that's what needs to happen," he told ABC radio.
